Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LAWRENCE (ST.)

LAWRENCE (ST.), a village and a parish on the S coast of the Isle of Wight. The village stands at the Undercliff, 2¼ miles WSW of Ventnor; and consists of ivy mantled thatched cottages, with orchards. The parish consists of a narrow strip, about 1½ mile in length, along the coast. Post town, Ventnor. Acres, 332. Real property, £783. Pop. in 1851, 111; in 1861, 85. Houses, 18. The manor was formerly called Underwath or Undercliff; belonged to the De Anlas; passed to the Russells, the Hackets, the Leighs, and the Worsleys; and belongs now to the Earl of Yarborough. St. Lawrence villa here was erected, in 1 79 4, by Sir Richard Worsley; high walls encircle it; and a road, of perilous narrowness, cut like a groove, goes up an ascent close to the walls. A strenuous attempt was made by Sir Richard Worsley to form a vineyard, on a plot of 2½ acres, with about 7, 000 vines; was conducted under the supervision of an experienced person from France; but was abandoned in 1808. A fountain, called St. Lawrence's well, bubbles out, clear and sparkling, beneath a little Gothic building. About 20 acres are under wood, chiefly juniper trees. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £106. Patron, the Hon. E. A. Pelham. The church is probably of Norman date; made long a claim to be the smallest in England, measuring only 20 feet long, by 12 wide, and 6 high; but was recently enlarged by a chancel 10 feet long, and by a porch and a bell gable. A picturesque ivy clad fragment of an early English manorial chapel is in the neighbourhood, at Woolverton Farm. There is a national school. See Undercliff.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: St Lawrence AP/CP       Hampshire AncC
Place names: LAWRENCE ST     |     ST LAWRENCE
Place: St Lawrence

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